Boy Scout Troop 759 took a 12-day trek through the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
Troop 759 Boy Scouts and their leaders, front row, Nikhil Ramakrishna, Brian Sheets, Graham Davies, Philmont Troop Guide Konrad, Richard Maffei, Rohan Nandal and Adam Scherr; back row, Duncan Kreutter, Sunil Ramakrishna, Trevor Davies, Elliot Scherr, David Delmonico and Ed Mayor, at the Philmont Scout Ranch.PLAINSBORO -- On July 27 eight Boy Scouts and four adult leaders from Troop 759 left for a 12-day trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, N.M.
Philmont, which spans 214 square miles in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, is the Boy Scouts' largest High Adventure base.
While on the trek, the Scouts practiced their shooting skills, threw tomahawks, cared for a Mexican donkey, mountain biked, hiked, used their blacksmith skills to forge a metal hook, panned for gold, rode horses and cooked their own meals.
But according to Boy Scout Adam Scherr, perhaps their greatest challenge came in adhering to the fundamentals of "Leave No Trace" camping, which challenges them to minimize their impact on the environment while camping and not leaving anything behind.
"Every day, the crew packed up camp, hiked to the next camp, and then set up camp. Although this may sound easy, certain tasks involved in setting up camp were quite difficult, especially when in a Leave No Trace campsite," said Scherr, who had a short list of items that the Scouts left behind. "Although we lost some items, the memories that we created at Philmont will stay with us for the rest of our lives."
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